Page 7 - GLNG Week 01 2021

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

construction of four LNG mega-trains and asso- portion” of Hudong’s LNG ship construction
ciated facilities. capacity up until 2027, the Qatari firm has pre-
viously said that it could spend up to $3.02bn
New era with the shipyard.
Despite its diversification efforts, the nation’s As NOCs elsewhere in the Gulf move to exert
wealth is highly dependent on the success of this further control over the supply chain through
strategy and Doha has also sought to embrace which their production is sold, Qatar’s ‘nation-
the energy transition as it aims to become a alisation’ of Qatargas 1 illustrates both its confi-
global “energy transition partner”; the new dence and intention to protect its interests.
corporate tagline of Qatar Petroleum, which As noted by Al-Kaabi at the time of the Qatar-
rebranded as QatarEnergy in October. gas 1 decision in April 2021, the move concludes
At that point, Al-Kaabi said: “We are making “more than 25 years of successful operations of
sure that we protect our environment by keep- QG1, from which the first ever Qatari LNG
ing our carbon footprint at a minimum. This cargo was exported”. During this period, the
is why we are utilising sophisticated carbon company has acquired expertise from its JV
sequestration methods to capture and sequester partners Total, ExxonMobil, Marubeni and
9mn tonnes of carbon dioxide [CO2] a year by Mitsui, and will now proceed alone.
the end of the decade.”
These contracts are part of a broader doubling Export agreements
down by Doha on efforts to regain its title as the As Qatar embarks on a new ambitious era of
world’s largest LNG exporter. To cater to grow- LNG, Qatargas 1 and 2 are set to commence Qatargas 1
ing liquefaction capacity, Qatar is also under- new shipments this month that will amount to
taking a $19bn-plus programme to acquire up 12.75mn tpy of contracted volumes. In 2021, and 2 are set
to 100 new carriers in the largest fleet expansion QatarEnergy signed nine LNG sale and purchase to commence
in the history of the LNG sector. agreements (SPAs) with Asian customers cover-
QatarEnergy placed an order in October ing a total volume of 197.5mn tonnes of LNG. new shipments
for the first four LNG carriers under this pro- Of these, six are long-term contracts that
gramme with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuild- commence this month, providing between 1mn this month that
ing Group Co., a subsidiary of the China State tpy and 3.5mn tpy to clients in China, Pakistan,
Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC). The deal is the first South Korea and Taiwan over periods of 10, 15 will amount to
with a Chinese shipyard and follows an April and 20 years. 12.75mn tpy
2020 agreement with Hudong to reserve ship Meanwhile, Qatar is also increasing its role
construction capacity. The contract is valued in in its own regional market with a 15-year, 3mn of contracted
excess of $770mn. tpy supply deal with Kuwait Petroleum Corp.
In an official statement, then-QP said: “These (KPC) also beginning this month, the first long- volumes.
four carriers are the first batch of orders in Qatar term agreement signed for Kuwait’s new LNG
Petroleum’s massive LNG shipbuilding pro- Import terminal (LNGI), which is expected to
gramme, which will cater for future LNG fleet achieve commercial launch in March.
requirements for the North Field expansion 2022 is set to be a year of major growth for the
projects as well as for existing vessel replace- Qatari LNG industry, and with so many projects
ment requirements.” still to kick off, this will set the tone for much of
With the 2020 deal covering “a significant the next decade.™

Week 01 07•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7